Puppet Show
by HolyCowNipples
Summary: A village of perverted males, large supplements of sarcasm and smart ass remarks, temperatures that could fry an egg, sand that finds itself everywhere, not to mention the presence of a certain warpaint clad shinobi: Ino's toughest mission /PAUSED FOR THE MEANTIME
1. The Arrival

She looked around her, the environment was so different to what she was accustomed to. There was sand._ Everywhere_. She missed being able to walk around without sinking three feet into the ground. She missed not having sand get all over her. How on earth did it get in her bindings? And more importantly how would she survive here. The sun was incredibly bright and the heat was almost unbearable. Perspiration dripped all over her overworked body. Almost a million complaints filled her head at that moment... her incredibly itchy head. Ino stopped in her tracks as she came to a horrific realization. Dragging thin fingers vigorously through her hair her theory was proven.

"What troublesome thing is it this time? I'de very much appreciate to get to Suna before the day ends." Shikamaru groaned turning to face her.  
>"There. Is. Sand. In. My. Hair." She said her eyes wide, hands speeding up, trying to remove as much of it as possible. Shikamaru smirked, of all the times she had stopped to complain about something completely ridiculous, this was by far the most amusing.<br>"Well when we finally get to Suna you can wash it out" the shadow wielder said attempting to keep his impatience to arrive hidden. It didn't work.  
>"Eager to see Temari, I see." Choji said, finally entering the conversation his voice smug. Oh how Shikamaru wished he didn't have to put up with this torture.<br>"Ah, that's what it is." Ino's sang, a crooked smirk present on that unblemished face.  
>"No, I'd just like to begin this mission already." Shikamaru replied quickly and defensively.<br>"Suuure" the two said in unison, their smirks growing to wide grins as they continued their journey.

The silence for the remainder of the journey was eerie, the only sound being the wind blowing through the sand and Ino's pitiful attempts at removing the grains of sand from her golden tresses.

Their mission was simple, Sunagakure was in need of extra help. Ino was to help out at the hospital, Shikamaru was there to help the Sunagakure Strategests while Chouji was to teach at the ninja academy mainly just tai-jutsu. This was the Hokage and Kazekage's _brilliant_idea to strengthen the bond between the two neighboring countries.

Their feet were aching, calves throbbing to an extreme extent. All three felt waves of relief wash over them as the gates of Suna came into veiw. Ino's eyes widened at the sight. Suna was definitely a beautiful country. The buildings stood tall, much higher than anything in Konoha and the sun beat down in such a way to make the sand shine giving the illusion of diamonds.

"Ah, you must be the Shinobi from Konoha." A Jounin guard called from the gates once they came into hearing range. He was seated with his legs on a table, arms resting behind his head in a lazy looking manner. He was an average looking man, none of his features stood out an immense amount. His skin was tan, a result of the harsh Suna sun and was covered in scars and callouses. He had exceedingly unruly hair which was a deep shade of brown, his eyes were a very dull shade of green and they stayed glued to Ino's figure, much to her dismay. The man reminded her of Genma, perverted and always lazing about on his ass.  
>"Yes, where can we find the Kazekage and his siblings?" Shikamaru replied, ignoring the way the man was eyeing his teammate. The guard merely pointed to the largest sand building, almost on the other side of the village. Both Choji and Ino groaned looking at the distance, they had been traveling for the past three days through the unbearable heat. Letting out an exhausted sigh Shikamaru began sauntering towards the building, Ino and Choji silently following.<p>

They walked at an incredibly slow pace and took what seemed like hours before they arrived at the Kazekage building. They walked to the entry which was unfortunately blocked off by another guard.

"State your business." The man said in a husky voice. He look very much like the first man although his hair was a lighter shade and his nose seemed straighter and narrower, his eyes too rarely strayed away from Ino's bare stomach.  
>From whom they had met so far Ino had concluded that the majority of Suna Shinobi were utterly perverted.<br>"We are Shinobi from Konoha we were assigned a mission here and we must report to the Kazekage before we begin it" Shikamaru explained, annoyed that the man hadn't figured it out as quickly as the other guard.  
>"Shinobi of Konoha? Very well then. I see the kunoichi have grown more attractive. " He smiled throwing a wink at Ino as he stepped aside to let them past. Both Shikamaru and Choji shot the man a look of pity before walking onwards.<br>"I don't think that's an appropriate thing to say to a shinobi here to assist you're village." Ino ranted taking a step towards the man poking him hard in the center of his chest in an intimidating demeanor. "APOLOGIZE NOW!" She growled shooting the man a look that said if he refused to do so there would be consequences.  
>"Y-yes ofcourse, my apologies kunoichi of Konoha" he replied bowing his head out of respect.<p>

Shikamaru and Choji walked up several steps towards a large room. Knocking lightly on the door, they were soon granted entry. The room was dark, which was uncomfortable after staring into light for such a long amount of time. The walls were barren and severely in need of redecoration.  
>"I was wondering when you'd arrive Crybaby." Temari said smirking as Shikamaru and Choji entered the room both looking physically exhausted.<br>"Now why would I miss an opportunity to spend time with a troublesome woman like you?" He replied returning the smirk.

"Keep that in the bedroom." Called a grinning Kankuro standing in the corner of the room, leaning against the wall. Over the years Kankuro had trained harder and the results were obvious. He had a more rugged physique and he had grown quite considerably in height. He still wore his kabuki face paint and hooded jumper although he had returned back to wearing his old baggy black ninja pants and sandals.  
>"SHUT IT KANKURO BEFORE I RIP THAT FUCKING SMIRK OFF YOUR FACE!" Yelled Temari shooting him a glare. If looks could kill he'd be screwed over by the reaper a million times by now.<br>"Temari, Kankuro. We are in the presence of guests." Said Gaara in a stern voice although a slight twitch of his lips indicated his amusement. He too had aged quite considerably, his hair was shaggier and pointed out in several directions and his voice had drastically deepened. His tall frame was clad in the usual Kage robe although the hat was not present.  
>"Kazekage-sama we are here to report our arrival" Choji said, calling attention to himself.<br>"Very well, you will be requested to relax for today, tomorrow you will be shown around the village with an escort each. Are there only two of you?" Gaara asked tilting his head slightly to the left. "I was informed that there would be three. Wasn't Miss Yamanaka meant to accompany you?" he continued, his voice fading slightly at the end in confusion.  
>"Yeah, she'll arrive soon, she got in a tiff with your door man" Shikamaru said, grimacing at the thought of what the man was most definitely dealing with.<br>"Very well, we will wait for her before continuing." The Kazekage declared earning nods from the others within the room.

"Stupid, perverted old man." Muttered an antagonized Ino as she trailed into the room not a minute later. Kankuro's eyes bulged at the sight of her. The last time they met, she was much younger, it seemed time had done a favor for the girl. Her form was much fuller and more matured and her uniform had reduced quite significantly. He shifted uncomfortably and was suddenly glad the room was so dark.  
>"It's about time Ino." Choji said turning to face her.<br>"Sumimasen, have I missed out on much?"  
>"I was informing your teammates that for the rest of the day you will rest and tomorrow will be shown around the village with a escort. Shikamaru will be shown around by Temari," He paused gesturing to the now smiling blonde, "Choji by Matsuri," Stopping once more to gesture to a brunette girl standing behind him that had gone unnoticed until Gaara had pointed her out, " and Ino by Kankuro" once more gesturing to the mentioned, whose eyes lit up with excitement upon hearing that, he looked at the blonde seeing her staring at him with curiosity and gave her a wolfish grin which caused her eyes to narrow and return back to the Kazekage. " You will all be staying in Suna's best inn, beside this building, your escorts will arrive early in the morning to begin the tour. At the end of the day you're escorts will return you here and I will fill you in with the remaining information of your tasks then as a welcoming we will all be attending a dinner, That's all."<br>"Arigatoo Kazekage-sama" all three recited, bowing their heads before turning around retreating from the room.

"Ino, Choji we need to discuss the mission now before we go to our room. Alright?" Shikamaru said stopping outside the Kazekage building out of the walkway in an area as to not disrupt anything.  
>"Shikamaru your memory may be getting hazy because I remember me saying quite clearly that I had SAND IN MY HAIR." Shikamaru rolled his eyes at the dramatic woman.<br>"Ah, I remember having that problem. " Temari said walking up to stand next to Shikamaru. "Let the girl wash her hair, you can wake up extra early tomorrow and talk then or wait until she has finished. " Ino grinned, glad Temari was there, she severely needed a woman's companionship. There was too much testosterone for her to handle by herself here.  
>"I'd much rather get it over with now, that way I can sleep for the remainder of the day. Come on, there was a park nearby we can sit and talk there." He replied, yawning in the process. Ino's inner self yelled curse words and insults at the lazy man that she so very much wanted to verbalize. She took a step towards Shikamaru and grabbed the collar of his shirt in a menacing way and leaned closer to him so that her mouth was inline with his ear.<br>"Listen Shikamaru, you know I'm up for discussing things but at the moment all I want to do is take a shower. I NEED to get this sand out of my hair. NOW. And whether I do that in the confinement of my room in a very luxurious shower or outside in the damn park in front of everyone in Suna with a fucking garden hose is ENTIRELY UP TO YOU!" She growled making everyone within hearing range wear an amused expression.  
>"Personally, I'd pick the second option but that's just my opinion." Said a deep voice behind Ino. She froze, recognizing the voice almost instantly.<br>"The Kazekage's brother is behind me, isn't he?" She asked, eyes twitching slightly causing smirks to cross all the others faces. Everyone soon struggled to hold in their laughter as Ino slowly turned around to come face to face -well to be more exact, face to neck- with the Kazekage's brother, Kankuro.  
>"Nara, I am going to kill you" she muttered, more to herself then to Shikamara.<br>"When did you get here Kankuro? I didn't notice you." Temari asked, grin still present.  
>"You know that I appear whenever an attractive woman threatens to remove her clothes. Ino, are you ready for your tour tomorrow?"<br>_ 'Perverts! All of them! All the fucking Shinobi of this damn village!_' Ino's mind frantically screamed.  
>"Yes, I am" She replied, attempting and succeeding to keep the ice out of her tone.<br>"Okay then, I'll be leaving now." The hooded man said as he turned around taking a step away in the direction of the Kazekage tower then suddenly stopping and turning back around. "Unless, ofcourse you are really planning on showering out here. Then ofcourse I'll stick around." He said winking at a bright red Ino. "Come on Temari."

After smacking him with her fan on the back of the head, Temari followed and they walked back towards the building door leaving the three visitors by themselves. After minutes of passionate arguing the group of shinobi sauntered towards the inn, finally agreeing to discuss things later on in the evening.

* * *

><p>"Akio? You meet the group from Konoha?" Kankuro asked the man guarding the Kazekage tower.<br>"How could I not? Man that blonde is feisty. I thought she was gonna rip my head off." Kankuro chuckled patting the man softly on the back.  
>"Knowing you, you were probably staring enough to provoke that."<br>"With what she was wearing, she was lucky that was all I did." Both men threw their heads back letting loud roar laughter escape their mouths.  
>"I must agree with you on that. Although does she not realize how much she's going to regret revealing that much skin to the sun?"<br>"Natural blonde, that's for sure." Both men let out another round of obnoxious laughter.

**A/N:**

**Okay this was my first chapter. Not really sure if it was any good. Feel free to tell me any problems. Here are the japenese terms I used an their meanings:**

**Shinobi: Ninja**

**Sensei: Teacher**

**Kunoichi: Female Ninja**

**Sumimasen: Sorry**

**Sama: A suffix used to people of a much higher rank.**

**Arigatoo: Thank you**


	2. One Hell Of An Alarm

Ino layed in bed, blankets tightly wrapped around her like a cacoon. During the night the weather outside her room was incredibly cold although, within the walls of the inn it was almost unbearably warm but the disturbing sounds of the wind whipping against her windows was enough to drive her to wrap herself in blankets and cover her head with her pillow. The blonde had only been able to get a scarce amount of sleep during the night and had woken up at a horrific hour to find her entire body covered in horridly painful red blotches.

After several more failed attempts at sleeping she let her mind drift back to the evening before.  
><em>Following her generously timed shower, Shikamaru called for a team meeting at Choji's room. Ino walked into the room and seated her self on the floor greeting her two teammates who were sprawled on the ground beside her on the way in.<em>  
><em>"Okay, now that Ino has cleaned her hair to her satifaction how about I remind you and possibly futher inform you of what is happening tomorrow," Shikamaru said, yawning several times during the one sentence. "Early morning our tour guides in-which-I-hope-you-remember-who-are will be coming to pick you up so sleep early and try not to spend to much time brushing your hair." Shikamaru paused and tilted his head slightly in Inos direction before continuing. "Anyway, we are representitives of Konoha and we have to make sure we don't do anythign to fuck up this bond between villages. So in short and mind you this may be more directed at some people more than others, try to be nice and not cause too much trouble. Okay, now after your tourguides pick you up they'll show you around the village for the better part of the day then we'll all meet back at the Kazekage tower where we will be informed officially of our mission then after that we go to our rooms get cleaned up and our tourguides will pick us up to go to a restraunt of the Kazekages choice where we have a sort of welcoming dinner. Understood?" Both Ino and Choji nodded, still quite overwhelmed that their lazy teammate was able to speak so much willingly.<em>  
><em>"How early is early?" Ino asked skeptically.<em>  
><em>"Dawn, early morning is apparantly the only time other than night that isnt searingly hot outside. If it makes you feel any better, I'll try to get into your room a little earlier then Kankuro, that way he wont have to see your bed hair." Added Shikamaru with a lazy smirk present on his face. Choji threw his head back and let out a howl of laughter before Ino got the chance to react to the insult.<em>  
><em>"Oh please Shikamaru, as if you would ever get up earlier than needed without being forced" he managed to let out between chuckles. Shikamaru grinned and did nothing to disagree and Ino joined in on Choji's fit of laughter. Soon after, Shikamaru and Ino departed Choji's room to their own to get some well deserved rest.<em>

She had just began to doze off when four earsplitting bangs pronounced itself from her door. Ignoring the noise, Ino held her pillow tighter to her head. The banging continued for several minutes, gradually getting louder. God, why were people so persistant? Eventually the banging stopped all together and Ino let out a satisfactory sigh. After a minute of silence the chiming sound of keys moving into the door startled her. Who the hell had keys to her door? Maybe that lazy ass finally did something other than lounge around, it was a miracle!  
>"Ino, I'm coming in so tell me if you're naked or something." In her groggy state, his voice seemed deeper to her.<br>"Whatever Shika" she mumbled into her taut pillow. A low chuckling apprehended before the sound of the doorhandle turning could be heard. Loud footsteps followed the noise before they came to abrupt halt beside her bed. There was no way someone Shikamaru's size could make _that_ much noise!  
>"Ino, get up. I have to give you your tour." Finally putting the pieces together and regestering the voice, Ino pulled the blankets tighter to her body, making sure all of it was hidden from him.<br>"I'm not leaving this room. Postpone it and why on earth do you have keys to my room?"  
>"The chubby teammate of yours told me you were gonna be trouble in the morning so he lent me the spare one you gave him so that I could actually get you up for the tour. Now,Yamanaka, get your ass out of bed and get ready so that I can fulfill my purpose." Ino groaned audibly, holding the blankets firmer then she already had been. Despite her attempts the puppeteer easily ripped the blanket from the blondes hands and away from her body.<p>

Ino released a boisterous scream for the top of her lungs, taking Kankuro aback.  
>"Damnit woman! You're gonna wake up all of Suna!" He growled covering his ears, sheilding them from the pandemonium. Ino glared at the man and slowly lowered her stiff legs down onto the cold floor. Recovering quickly, the hooded man released his ears and took in the blondes appearance. Her hair was bunched up on the top of her hair reminding him of a birds nest and dark shadows were present beneath her half lidded eyes. His eyes lingered on her slightly parted lips then lowered to the bright red rashes that encased the majority of her body that wasn't clad in her pajamas.<br>"You look like shit." He regretted letting the words escape his lips as Ino's right knee lifted and smashed forcefully into the most sensitive part of his anatomy. The kabuki face-paint wearing man fell to the ground holding his groin and wincing in pain.

After several minutes of screaming profanities Kankuro stood up, straightening his hood and flattening his shirt in the process.  
>" It may have been possible that I deserved that." This earned him a very un-ladylike snort from the blonde. Ino crossed her arms over her chest and put on the best scowl she could at the man in front of her. Choosign to ignore her childish antics, Kankuro continued. "Putting that aside. I think we should start our tour now."<br>"There is no way in hell I'm going out there looking like this." Letting out a frustrated sigh, Kankuro stood still in contemplation of how a medic-nin could be so stupid. Coming up with a solution to his previous problem, Kankuro began to pull his hoodie over his torso then head. Staring wide eyed at the puppet manipulator Ino let out another scream.  
>"Okay, its one thing to come barging into my room at this time then insult me and its another to start stripping! It's like you're asking me to sterillize you!"<br>"Ugh, Ino calm down. I'm lending you my jumper, the material is specially made to stop sunburn while insulating you so you don't fry, besides it'll cover up those horrible rashes. Now stop yelling before you get yourself kicked out of this place." Once more Ino snorted then took in the appearance of the man facing of her. He extended the arm holding the apparel towards the now captivated blonde. Although her best efforts, her eyes wouldn't stray away from the muscled torso in front of her. Kankuro grinned at the dazed blonde, his ego amplifying.

"Listen, I know I'm attractive but if we don't leave soon my brother will kill me." Snapping back to reality, Ino placed a well practiced scowl on her face.  
>"Thanks, but I'd rather be burned to the stake then wear that tragic excuse for a fashion statement. Besides, do you really think I wouldn't bring something to cover myself with?"<br>"From what I've heard about you, it's possible." Oh, that was gonna come back to bite him in the ass later.  
>"Har har. Despite popular belief, I'm not a slut" uttered Ino cinically while walking towards her closet grabbing the one piece of clothing she had that would cover her entirely. Unfortunately for her, that article was her fathers and almost double her size.<br>"I find that hard to believe"  
>"We're not gonna do well in the way of getting along are we?"<br>A shrug was all that was given to her in response.

"Why do you even wear that hoody anyway? You look better without it." Ino said, attempting to keep the small talk alive.  
>"Why Miss Yamanaka, diplomat of Konoha are you hitting on me? The respected brother of none other than the Kazekage?"<br>"In your dreams, I'd say the same thing to anyone who just took off a jumper that makes them look like and overgrown cat."  
>"Excuses blondie. You think I'm attractive just admit it."<br>"My father told me I shouldnt lie unless it is necessary for a mission"  
>"Then you've disobeyed him 'cause you think I'm hot"<br>"I do not!"  
>"Oh, my mistake. I guess your airconditioning is just acting up, hn?" This cause a pregnant pause between the two as Ino (now blushing furiously) widened her eyes as her hands hastily tryed to pull her fathers large hoody over her head and down her body.<br>"Jerk," she grunted while struggling with the large jumper earning herself a wide grin from the brother of the Kazekage himself.

After millions of attempts Ino finally got all her extremities throught he right holes in the jumper, if it could even be called that on her. The hem of it would have exceeded the length of her skirt, reachign to the top of her knees, the sleeves were about 4 inches longer than her hands and the hood hung halfway down her face, covering her eyes. After pulling the hood back she stomped over to the bathroom, shutting the door on her way in.  
>"Try not to take too long" the sand shinobi said, sitting down on the edge of the blonde's bed, scoping her temporary room while placing his discarded item of clothing down beside him. The woman had been occupying this room for half a day and already she had decorated. The majority of the room was now furnished with purple the only things that werent was the walls and the fully grown flowers that sure-as-hell-weren't-native-to-Suna whcih embellished her window cill. Facinated by them, Kankuro stood up and walked towards the boquets, examining them. There were so many of them, all strategically placed in attractive bouquets.<br>'Lilacs' he thought to himself, pulling some out looking at every detail of them done to the slight welting of the petals, they weren't gonna last very long here.  
>"Youthful innocence." He muttered to himself, snorting at the idea of the blonde ever being innocent then carefully placing the flowers back into position so he wouldnt be called out for looking at flowers.<br>"Funny, I never pictured you to be a guy who knew flower meanings. Perhaps I was right to be suspicious of that purple make up you wear." A smug Ino said, exitign the bathroom then leaning against the wall with a wide taunting grin on her face. Damn his unlucky timing. Her hair was neatly pulled back into her usual ponytail and her face was fresh, gleaming in the mornign light. Her pyjamas had been discarded leavign her in her usual ninja uniform beneath a large pale blue jumper.  
>"First of all, this is war paint, not makeup, war paint." Ino inwardly rolled her eyes at that, waiting for him to continue. " Secondly I'm a puppet manipulator, meaning I use poisons all the time. Therefore I have to research all things botanical so I know what I can use as a weapon when I come across it. And lastly, are you ready to go?" At that Ino nodded, still unconvinced that he didn't have another reason for knowing flower meanings but left the topic be and followed a strolling Kankuro out of her room.<p>

Unlike a gentleman, Kankuro did not hold the door open for Ino like she expected,letting it swing shut, narrowly missing her.  
>"Jerk." She muttered locking the door behind her. Kankuro was starting to have a feeling that 'Jerk' was becoming her unofficial nickname for him and grinned devilishly at that. It was going to be a fun day.<p>

**A/N:**

**Hey, sorry to whoever was waiting. My computer decided to have a break down. Anyway, I'm not really sure if I did well on this chapter so I'd appreciate some reviews! And I promise I'll do my best to get the next chapter out quicker. **

**-Holycownipples**


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